According to statistics provided by Universal McCann, nearly four million people watched Ghana’s 2022 World Cup opening match versus Portugal on Thursday in Qatar, which was broadcast on TVI in Portugal (UM).
Black Stars’ World Cup run got off to a bad start with their 3-2 defeat to Portugal.
After Uruguay and South Korea’s 0-0 stalemate earlier on Thursday, the loss places Black Stars at the bottom of Group H.
“TVI broadcast the debut game which had a total of 3.9 million people watching, with an average audience of 2.3 million and a share of 64.5 percent”, says UM, the media agency of the Mediabrands group.
This was the most watched game of the group stage, followed by the Brazil vs Serbia and France vs Australia games.
According to Univesal McCann, the transmission of this game by TVI was a good bet for the channel, since it recorded a share of 22.2 percent, an increase of 6.8 percentage points compared to the accumulated average for the month of October”.
After a goalless first half, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Portugal via the penalty spot but Ghana improved after the goal and scored the equalised through skipper Andre Ayew from close range.
Portugal responded with two goals in two minutes to seal the points – Joao Felix converting a delightfully clipped finish and substitute Rafael Leao coolly stroking in just seconds after coming on.
Osman Bukari headed in a late consolation for Ghana and there could have been real drama in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
The Black Stars will now switch their attention to their attention to the match against South Korea on Monday before taking on Uruguay on December 2 at the Education City stadium.